NICEVILLE, Florida – Before a crowd of roughly a 1,100 on Thursday night, first son Donald Trump, Jr. along with Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) showed Florida’s Panhandle was still solidly in President Donald Trump’s column.
The event held on Gaetz’s behalf featured Gold Star Mom Karen Vaughn, military veteran Luke Murphy, Parkland school shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv, Republican Florida Agriculture Commissioner candidate Matt Caldwell and Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA), all of which expressed their support for the sitting president.
DeSantis, a Republican candidate for Florida governor that has recently opened up a lead on his Republican opponent Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, touted having Trump’s endorsement.
“I’m proud to be the only candidate running for governor in the entire state, either party, who is an Iraq veteran, who is a principled conservative leader who has fought entrenched interests and stood up for taxpayers,” DeSantis said. “And I’m the only candidates who has been endorsed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.”
Gaetz followed DeSantis and connected with jabs at his Democratic House colleagues Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and Maxine Waters (D-CA), and the so-called Deep State as well, urging U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The freshman Republican congressman wasn’t shy about his frequent appearances on the Fox News Channel, either.
“Do you want me to do less Fox News, or do you want me to do more Fox News?” he said, with the crowd in attendance responding “more.”
“I have to tell you – they actually told me if I do any more Fox News, I have to start selling My Pillow,” he quipped. “I think we’ll keep it the same.”
He went on to note that he, DeSantis and Taylor were regulars on cable television, but not as many of the other 535 members of the House and Senate appeared on TV. Instead, Gaetz said many of his congressional colleagues opted to give speeches on the floor of Congress to an empty room instead of the spontaneity of television as to avoid deviating from their talking points.
Closing out the event was Donald Trump, Jr., who emphasized the importance of having elected leaders like Taylor, DeSantis, and Gaetz to continue fulfilling his father’s campaign promises. On the economy, Trump argued things were “substantially” better since his father President Donald Trump took office in 2017.
“What is the other side’s platform?” Trump said. “What are the Democrats campaigning for these days? Name one – and I’m going to ask the crowd, I’ll even ask the media if they want to chime in – name one economic platform where we are not substantially better off today than we were two years ago. It doesn’t exist.”
Even though Gaetz is a favorite in his primary and will be in the general election contest should he emerge as the GOP’s nominee in Florida’s first congressional district, Thursday’s event could improve DeSantis’ gubernatorial prospects. It may increase turnout among Gaetz’s supporters, and that may translate into votes for the slate of candidates in speaking at the rally, including DeSantis.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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